Panoramic camera tripod control



March16,194s. 1 ,APARKER y 2,437,787

PANORAMIC C'AMERA TRIPOD CONTROL Filed Feb.4 17, 1945 INVENTOR. VAN l` PARKER Z/@QMMM A T TORNE Y Patented Mar.. 16, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PANORAMIC CAMERA TRIPOD CONTROL Van A. Parker, San Diego, Calif.

Application February 17, 1945, 'Serial No. 578,499

Claims. (Cl. 248-183) My invention relates to a panorami-c camera tripod control and the objects of my invention are:

First, to provide a camera tripod control which can be `operated with one hand, there being a single lever and knob control by which the camera f can be swung through 'any desired arc on va horizontal plane, through any desired angle on a ver tical plane or locked at any desired position by simply turning the knob;

Second, to provide a camera tripod control particularly adaptable for use in photographing subjects of a panorami-c nature;

Third, to provide a camera tripod control which has a camera mount providing for a second vertical adjustment by means of which the camera can be set to retain a fixed vertical angle While being rotated horizontally; and

Fourth, to provide a camera control which provides steady support for a camera and which is sturdy and dependable in service and practicable to manufacture;

With these and other objects in view as will appear hereinafter, my invention consists of certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts and portions as will be hereinafter described in detail and particularly set forth in the appended claims, 'reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference thereon which form a part of this disclosure in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view of the camera control and the head of a tripod, the manual control lever being broken and foreshortened to conserve space; Fig. 2 is a vertical elevational view of the structure shown in Fig. l viewed from the line 2-2 in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken from the line 3 3 in Fig. 1, the upper portions cf the legs shown in Fig. 1 being removed and the camera mount being turned as in Fig. 2 to facilitate the illustration; Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional View taken from the line tlin Fig. 2, of the camera mount and adjacent structure only.

Similar characters of reference refer to similar or identical parts and portions throughout the several views The control described herein is primarily for use with cameras especially those cameras used in panoramic photography and the control is shown as combined with a tripod of conventional design, the leg portions I of which are pivotally secured to the head 2 which is essentially a flat topped member supported by the tripod legs and lsupporti-ng the novel structure which is the subject matter of this application,

The bevel gear 3 is rigidly mounted in a recess drilled i-n the top of the head 2 using an adapter `collar 3a, if required, and the center post ll is rotatably mounted Within this gear 3. This center post may be cubical in shape with a cylindrical stem la depending through the bevel gear 3 and frictionally contracting the head '2 at the lower end oi' the stem. The post Il is retained in this position by the stud 5 which is entered through the head, suitably drilled and countersunk to receive it, and tightly screwed into a threaded hole in the lower Iend of the stem lu. The lower face of the center post 4 may also frictionally contact the upper end iaceof the bevel gear 3. The sleeve 5 is press fitted at one .end Evo into a suitable recess in one side of lthe center post i and at the other end is formed with an integral beveled flange 6b, the `vbeveled face being ladjacent to the similarly beveled Alace la of the bevel nut 'l which may `be press .fitted onto or otherwise rigidly ail-lxed to lone end .ci the torque tube 8 which is of proper 4diameter 'to turn freely within the said sleeve 6 .and a registering hole drilled through the center post il and this torque tube S may extend beyond the Icenter .post fl a .short distance. The bevel gear ,9 is 'mounted :on the torque tube 8 on the side of the center post :4 opposite to the sleeve 6 and is fixed thereto to turn with the bevel nut 'I and the teeth of the rbevel gear 3. The rod I8 of a length :slightly greater .than the length of the torque tube 8 and of a diameter to t easily within said torque tube 8 is threaded at both ends. The camera mount block I I is tightly threaded onto one end of this rod I0 and the locking lever bracket I2 and lock nut I3 are secured 4on the other end'of this rod and the locking lever I terminating in the knob I5 is threaded into the extended portion of the bracket I2, as illustrated in Fig. l. The inner end of the locking lever I4 is beveled to roughly correspond with the bevel angle of the surfaces 6a and 'Ia and it will be evident that twisting the knob I5 in one direction will tend to force the bevel nut 1 away from the bevel surface 6a., thus indirectly pulling the bevel gear 9 into tight `engagement with the bevel gear 3 and locking the whole vertically rotatable portion of the assembly including the camera mount block II against movement relative to the fixed sleeve 6. At the same time and by the same locking action of the locking lever I4 the whole control will be locked against horizontal rotation relative to the fixed bevel gear 3. When the knob I5 is turned in the opposite direction, the camera mount block II will be unlocked and free to be turned through any angle in both horizontal and vertical planes.

The actual attachment of the camera may be carried out in several ways and I have represented in the drawings a preferred structure in which the bracket I6 is secured to the camera mount block II by means of a thumb screw I1 and the extended arm ISa of the bracket is suciently offset from the point of pivotal attachment to allow its being set at any point in a plane normal to the axis of the rod I 0. The securement of the camera to the bracket I6 may be accomplished by means of a thumb screw I8, a washer I9 and a threaded washer 20 which acts as a lock Washer when the thumb screw is tightened into the camera base and a circular plate 2| riveted as at 2Ia to the bracket IS, to act as a table for the camera base. This structure allows for the rough setting of the camera before finer adjustment is secured through the employment of the control by manipulation of the locking lever knob.

Though I have shown and described a particular construction, combination and arrangement of parts and portions, I do not wish to be limited to this particular construction, combination and arrangement of parts and portions but desire to include in the scope of my invention the construction, combination and arrangement substantially as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In a camera control, a support rotatable on a vertical axis, a xed bevel gear mounted on said axis, a torque tube rotatably mounted in said support and having rigidly mounted thereon a bevel gear engaging the rst mentioned bevel gear, a torque rod within said torque tube and supporting a camera mount at one end thereof and supporting at the other end thereof a lever to lock temporarily said torque tube to said torque rod.

2. In a camera control, a support rotatable on a vertical axis, a i'lxed bevel gear mounted on said axis, a torque tube rotatably mounted in said support and having rigidly mounted thereon a bevel gear engaging the irst mentioned bevel gear, a torque rod within said torque tube and supporting a camera mount at one end thereof and supporting at the other end thereof a lever to lock temporarily said torque tube to said torque rod, and to lock said torque tube to a laterally extending member xed to said support.

3. In a camera control, a support rotatable on a. vertical axis, a xed bevel gear mounted on said axis, a torque tube rotatably mounted in said support and having rigidly mounted thereon a bevel gear engaging the rst mentioned bevel gear, a torque rod within said torque tube and supporting a camera mount at one end thereof and supporting at the other end thereof a lever to lock temporarily said torque tube to said torque rod, and to lock said torque tube with a laterally extending sleeve member fixed to said support by simultaneously engaging a beveled member secured to said torque tube and a correspondingly beveled member secured to said lateral member.

4. In a camera control, a support rotatable on a vertical axis, a xed bevel gear mounted on said axis, a torque tube rotatably mounted in said support and having rigidly mounted thereon a bevel gear engaging the first mentioned bevel gear, a torque rod within said torque tube and supporting a camera mount at one end thereof and supporting at the other end thereof a lever to lock temporarily said torque tube to said torque rod, and to lock said torque tube with a laterally extending sleeve member fixed to said support by simultaneously engaging a beveled member secured to said torque tube and a correspondingly beveled member secured to said lateral member, the lever being threadably secured to a bracket which is rigidly secured to said torque rod.

5. In a control of the character described, in combination, a camera mount, a torque rod secured to said camera mount at one end and to a control lever at the other end, a pivoted support for said rod, a tripod, a beveled gear xed to said tripod, a matching beveled gear fixed to a torque tube rotatably mounted in said support, a beveled disc xed to said support, a beveled nut fixed to said torque tube and associated with said beveled disc so that said lever can be jammed therebetween, thus locking the torque rod against movement in any direction.

VAN A. PARKER.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Zerk Mar. 3l, 1931 Number 

